An Intermediate Guide to Dramione Romance
by arctique48
Summary: Taking your enemy matchmaking to the next level. We hope to steer you in the right direction in your PostHBP stories, whether you are taking note of the book or not. [Parody]


**AN: **I suggest you read _A Beginner's Guide To Dramione Romance_ first, this is a continuation of sorts. Again, no offence meant and I hope it's helpful :)

**Disclaimer: **Hogwarts belongs to JKR and the ideas used are not mine…

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**An Intermediate Guide to Dramione Romance. (_Taking your enemy matchmaking to the next level.)_**

The time has arrived; the long awaited event has finally come to pass: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! In which great evil bestows us with its presence, in which relationships are formed, in which loyalties are questioned and Draco Malfoy is given a personality. The latter, we believe, is something that many young fandom writers are struggling with, perhaps even more so than reality of The Death.

You can take it anywhere! Anywhere in the entire world, Godric's Hollow is only the beginning and yet, what happens?

"Summary: _Hermione and Draco are Head Girl and Boy. Please read to witness their steamy passion. (AU. Not HBP compatible_.)"

Six-hundred pages of plot-development and the wizarding world is yours to mould, but why not choose the easy option? The old fail-safe: Pre-HBP, Sixth book not taken into account, Dumbledore still alive and Draco not a Death Eater but a good, misunderstood little boy with a penchant for sarcasm.

Clearly past methods are still favoured by many and An Intermediate Guide To Dramione Romance hopes to steer you in the right direction in your Post-HBP stories, whether you are taking note of the book or not.

**Characters:**

The possibilities revealed in that tower are limitless!

Draco Malfoy is no longer a misunderstood bully who's great intelligence and boredom lead to him picking on the teacher's pet because her blood is inferior and her hair is bushy. He's been given a background; he's been given a conscience. No longer is his utterly impassive with a heart of ice. Draco Malfoy has not only become a man, but a human being as well.

**Where to take Draco from the Lightning-Struck Tower:**

**A -** Draco becomes good.

**B –** Draco becomes evil.

**C -** Draco goes insane.

**D -** Draco reverts and becomes his father.

**E -** Draco kills Snape.

**F -** Draco kills _everyone!_

**G -** Draco kills no one because he has at last found his conscience.

**H -** Draco gets guilty but kills people anyway.

**I -** Draco kills himself because his existence is so hopeless.

**J -** Draco kills Hermione because he has to.

**K **- Draco is killed in revenge.

**L -** Draco is kidnapped by the Order.

Surprisingly, many people seem to find the idea of Draco being an official Death Eater rather daunting and more and more are shying away from writing him. Sadly it is time we except: Fanon Draco and Canon Draco are two entirely different people.

**Fanon Draco – Personality Quirks:**

He likes leather trousers, wearing black, charcoal or green Italian silk shirts, playing quidditch and teasing Hermione. His body is 'quidditch honed' and he is very tall with 'fine aristocratic features'. His 'perfectly chiselled chest' is a girl magnet and he is the school slut. He is sarcastic and brilliant and his best friend is Blaise Zabini, a tall, handsome Italian with blue eyes and dark hair. (Crabbe and Goyle are merely minions, stepping stones in his inevitable rise to greatness.) He is not a Death Eater and other than hating 'mudbloods' his place in the war is not yet decided. He is terrified of his father and no one else, though he has a close relationship with his mother. He possesses bravery beyond any Slytherin to date, though it is only inspired by Hermione Granger. He is Harry Potter's nemesis, more so than Lord Voldemort himself, Harry hates him with a passion unrivalled.

**Canon Draco – Personality Quirks:**

He wears his school Slytherin robes, because he is at school and there are regulations about such things. He likes playing quidditch but will sacrifice it in fear of the Dark Lord. He torments the Golden Trio and hates Ron Weasley and Harry Potter (and Hermione when he finds the time). He is tall and lanky and the only girl who'll throw herself at him is Pansy 'Pug face' Parkinson. His only friends are Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, sons of his father's associates and his long-term bodyguards (Blaise Zabini is a tall African boy with a beautiful mother, but to Draco he is no more than a fellow Slytherin and classmate). He is a Death Eater, his father's replacement and his path in this war has been set in stone since the day he was born. He fears for his parents (his father just as much as his mother) and will do anything the Dark Lord asks of him if he thinks it will spare him his life. He is a coward in every sense of the word. He is but a footnote in the chronicles of Harry Potter's life; he has the boy's pity and little more.

**What, indeed, I hear you ask, do fanon and canon Dracos actually have in common?** _A difficult question to answer but we have uncovered some similarities between the two:_

They both have blond hair. They generally both have grey eyes (though fanon occasionally likes to revert to blue). They are both the only child of Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. They're both in Slytherin house and they both dislike Harry Potter and everything he stands for. They… well, that appears to be it…

**Possible Hermione Paths:**

Sadly, Book Six saw little character development on Hermione's side, though this could be interpreted as a very good thing, given the current disregard of new canon. Other than her newfound attraction to Ron Weasley Hermione is very much the same as she's always been, bookish, bushy haired and loyal. But where will her path lie in the next (and final) book?

**A -** With Harry and Ron, off to save to world.

**B -** With Harry and Ron, off the Bill and Fleur's wedding.

**C -** With Harry and Ron, off to Godric's Hollow.

**D - **With Harry and Ron, off to join the Order of the Phoenix.

**E -** With Harry and Ron, off to get kidnapped by Death Eaters.

**F –** With Harry and Ron, back to Hogwarts.

**G -** Without Harry, eloping with Ron.

**H - **Without Ron, eloping with Harry.

**I -** Without Harry or Ron, eloping with Draco Malfoy who she had a secret affair with during the Sixth Book that no one knew about.

**J –** Without Harry and Ron, reverting to a muggle life.

**K – **Without Harry and Ron, back to Hogwarts.

**L - **Without anyone, off to join a colony of vampires in America where she will become the Dark Queen of All Things, later meeting Voldemort and killing him whilst holding a sordid tryst with Draco Malfoy.

**Setting:**

**What will become of Hogwarts without Dumbledore?**

Hogwarts could continue only to enter a state of civil war. Hogwarts could close and students will be left to fend for themselves in a world of war. Hogwarts could be hijacked and burnt to the ground by rampaging Death Eaters. Hogwarts could go on but with Harry and co. going to save the world on other planes. Looks like it's entirely up to you…

**What will happen to the Order of the Phoenix?**

Remus and Tonks have officially got together; will they have no time for fighting the forces of evil? There is no more phoenix, will the name have to be changed? Who will run the Order with Dumbledore gone? McGonagall gets Hogwarts so will the Order be left with Moody? Decisions will have to be made…

**However, for those of you deciding against the use of this new situation, there are still a number of favourite plots ready and waiting to be used:**

**Future fics** - have grown greatly in popularity, chick flicks being referred to rather than the books themselves. Complications such as Horcruxes need not be mentioned, it's all in the past and now Hermione is a lawyer. Yay! (**NB**: Hermione can also be a reporter (see A Beginner's Guide… for details).

**Life Changing Experiences: **Guess what? They've both had life changing experiences over the holidays! Yay! Draco is reformed and humbled (and no longer wimpy or human) and Hermione is sick of Harry and Ron (they can go save the world on their own!), they meet and sparks fly… Wahoo…

**Draco's in hiding**. Why? Because he almost killed Dumbledore. Where's the best place to hide him? Muggle London, the Granger's house of course! (Who'd think to look for him there?) (NB: Muggle _London_ and nowhere else. England is in possession of only one city and don't you forget it!)

**Marriage Law:** What is it? Entirely invented, that's what it is, and therefore entirely up to you. Every tenth Malfoy must marry a muggleborn or great evil will befall humanity. To get a job at Malfoy Inc. (or Co. or Ltd, depending on the author) you must marry the boss. If thou drinketh too much alcohol thou must wed thine worstest enemy. The options are endless. Have fun.

**Potions Together:** Snape assigns his class pairs to work in. Hermione gets Draco. She is horrified. He is also horrified. They refuse to cooperate and Hermione does all the work while Draco watches her arse. During one of many homework sessions they have to have because of their lack of work in lessons they fall in love. The end. (Alternative subjects with assigned pairs and homework include Care for Magical Creatures, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes.)

**Potions Accident**: It may be a shrinking solution, a binding solution, a love potion, a body-switching potion or a potion that makes them see each other's past, whichever you pick it still gets spilt and they still suffer the effects together only to realise they love one another.

**Potions Time Travel:** Snape sets them a super-hard potion (Timus Changus or Reversus Placius) and as they are the best in the class Hermione and Draco have to work together. All is going well and their potion is perfect because they are perfect and the author loves boys who are clever and do well in classes like potions, until (shock horror) the cauldron is knocked over (by Neville or Crabbe). They get their perfect potion spilt all over them and because it is perfect it sends them into the past (Middle Ages to be precise) where their roles are reversed. Yup, Hermione is a princess and Draco is a peasant. They have to work together to get back to the future and they each see the difficulties of each other's existence. They get back to Hogwarts reformed and very much in love.

**NB:** The great many stories with references to potions lessons and Snape's detentions, classes and general bitterness and wrath may be some indicator to the huge number of closet Snape fans, hiding behind the pretence of liking Draco Malfoy so they can write about Severus's "cold, lonely eyes, as black as the night skies in the dark of the moon, holding within them all the sadness of a broken world…" Indeed, I'm sure you'll all agree, liking someone acted by a seventeen-year-old boy is far more acceptable than liking the greasy professor acted by someone in their fifties.

**Sex-Ed Class/Parenting Lessons:** Now why don't we get that? Babies handed over to teenagers to be looked after and cared for. Isn't it just the best idea? Don't you think that the child's big blue eyes will seduce the new parents into falling in love? That they'll see how wonderful life together with a family would be? That they wouldn't rip each other apart from the sheer stress of a hungry, loud, inconvenient, whiny infant who's first words are 'Mummy Hermy and Daddy Dwaco'? Or better yet, look after child versions of each other! Kids are just so much more attractive than teenagers your own age. Hermione will learn of Draco's inner child and hidden innocence while Draco witnesses what it's like to be loved by someone other than himself. They begin to date and still manage to have time for their fake child.

**Exchange Program:** (Dumbledore required.) Hermione and Draco are transferred to another school (possibly Beauxbatons but generally a muggle one). With luck they'll end up in America and the author will be able to play matchmaker in person while introducing them to her school and her friends and her wonderful country and their wonderful fashion and shops and parties and stuff… Attempting to be 'British' will no longer be required and life will be far easier.

**Slave Girl Hermione:** Bound in chains and without magic. The war is lost and Know-It-All Granger is at his mercy. Draco can either take this to his advantage in the most unpleasant ways possible or be all nice and forgiving and free her and propose and give her everything she can ever want (apart from her friends that he killed).

**In which Draco develops a hair fetish:**

Her hair is so pretty,  
All bushy and brown,  
Mine is too shiny,  
It makes me feel down.

I wish I were able  
To run through her hair  
My fingers  
With such deep loving care,

That she would manage,  
With minor surprise,  
To see what an excellent  
Person I am inside.

Terrible rhyming aside, there are many other reasons as to why Draco would harbour a secret obsession with Hermione. Her eyes are one. Her friends, her blood, her grades… The list goes on. Many will stem from The Slap back in third year. She is often obsessed too (because he is the one constant in her hectic life and those taunts and name callings are what keeps her world anchored). They work through their issues and eventually fall in love.

**Draco is a Veela**. Because he is blond and his mother is pretty many people have taken to the idea that Draco Malfoy is in fact of veela descent. He discovers it when he comes of age and is then required to find his mate (who, by the coincidence of all coincidences, just so happens to be Hermione Granger). He woos her with his veela charms and realises (when mating season passes) that he is in love with her.

**Draco is a Daddy**. Sadly his little baby girl Malfoy has no Mum and is in desperate need of either a nanny or a full-out replacement mother. It is usually never clearly explained why Hermione Granger is his ideal choice of babysitter, but she is, and through the little girl (with pretty blonde ringlets) they fall in love and live happily ever after.

**Imagery: **

_In A Beginner's Guide…__we revealed a number of favourite personalities used in the writing of Dramione romance stories, in this Guide we strive to go one step further. What good is a personality with no imagery to back it? Here are a few of the most commonly favoured descriptions:_

**Angel references: **No doubt you will see the irony, while Draco's appearance is cherubic it is Hermione's personality that holds the real angelic qualities. She truly is the diamond in the rough while Draco is little more than a wolf in sheep's clothing. Also, Lucius means angel of light, so it would make sense that Draco would inherit such qualities… Blond hair and pale eyes equals heavenly being.

**Eyes are another thing with a huge amounts of poetry behind them, windows to the soul indeed...  
Grey eyes and their metaphors:**

**_Cold_**, a reflection of fanon Draco's personality, his upbringing, his childhood home…

**_Mirrors_**, he is rather narcissistic and what better way to illustrate this than with mirror-like eyes. Broken mirrors is another rather angsty comparison, referring to his damaged soul, and his bluntness often reflects your own traits back at you, hence mirror. 

_**Weaponry**, _what else is grey? Daggers, swords, blades of any kind. Cold and unforgiving, a reflection of his 'razor sharp' wit and merciless wrath. References to steel, iron and a number of other metals are not uncommon.

_**Molten silver**,_ he _is_ an aristocrat, and what better way to portray it than with eyes like precious metal. Silver is also the colour of Slytherin and therefore linked strongly to his personality.

**_Mercurial_**, (oooh, people, it's a double meaning!) Not only referring to the colour of his eyes but also the changeability of his temper (and perhaps his loyalty).

**_Rain_**, it's depressing and angsty and so Draco Malfoy. 

**_Flint_**, cold, stone like, unyielding in reference to his emotionally restricted persona.

**_Silk_,** a fine fabric, expensive and coveted. Shows off his noble upbringing and his love for the finer things in life.

**_Harsh wind in winter_**, another display of poetic angst.

**_The moon,_** a serene bystander, controlling the tides from afar…. Perhaps not the best metaphor, more suited to Albus Dumbledore, but the moon _is_ silver… 

**_The stars,_** his namesake is a constellation.

**_The sea_**, powerful and unpredictable?

**Conflicting imagery to heighten the gap between their two existences: **

Fire/Ice, Earth/Water, Gryffindor/Slytherin, Cold/Warm, Nice/Nasty, Angels/Dragons, Capulet/Montague, Winter/Spring, Beauty/Beast, Muggle/Wizard, Love/Hate.

While he is symbolic of everything left of the old traditional ways of the wizarding world and its caste system, she is in every sense a child of the revolution. A muggleborn aspiring to brilliance, a bright light in the world of war. Can she pull him out of his backwards ways or will he strive on to preserve his pureblood legacy? The former is the option most favoured by Dramione shippers.

**Brown eyes and their metaphors:**

**_Chocolate,_** it's warm and sweet. Releases you from the effects of dementors and is loved by almost everyone.

**_Warm,_** comfort and safety, allusion to the childhood Draco Malfoy never had.

_**Friendly fire on a cold winter night**_, she's kind, warming, forgiving and stands out in the world of war. She is the flame in his cold, impassive existence… 

**_Mud_**, in reference to her supposed inferiority of blood. Parallel with term, 'Mudblood'.

**Some Helpful Quotes:**

"My only love sprung from my only hate!" _William Shakespeare's _**Romeo and Juliet.**

"…I must love a loathed enemy." _William Shakespeare's _**Romeo and Juliet.**

"Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, Beauty and the Beast." **Beauty and the Beast.**

"Harry and Ron both made furious moves towards Malfoy, but Hermione got there first – SMACK!  
She had slapped Malfoy around the face with all the strength she could muster. Malfoy staggered."  
_J.K. Rowling – _**Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban**_ (The Quidditch Final)._

"'Granger, they're after _Muggles_,' said Malfoy, 'D'you want to be showing off your knickers in mid-air? Because if you do, hang around… they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh.'"… "'Keep that big bushy head down, Granger,' sneered Malfoy."  
_J.K. Rowling – _**Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire**_ (The Dark Mark)._

"It was Hermione… Pansy Parkinson gaped at her as she walked past with Malfoy, and even he didn't seem to be able to find an insult to throw at her."  
_J.K. Rowling – _**Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire**_ (The Yule Ball)_

"Come over to the right side Draco… you are not a killer…'  
Malfoy stared at Dumbledore.  
'But I got this far, didn't I?' he said slowly, ' They thought I'd die in the attempt, but I'm here… and you're at my mercy…'  
'No, Draco,' said Dumbledore, quietly. 'It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now.'  
Malfoy did not speak. His mouth was open, his wand hand still trembling. Harry thought he saw it drop a fraction –"  
_J.K. Rowling – _**Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince**_ (The Lightning-Struck Tower)_

**Several FAQ's since the release of Book Six:**

**The Problem:** The thought of Blaise Zabini being anything but tall dark and Italian has never crossed your minds?  
**The Solution:** Ignore it! Hermione can still be a secret Zabini! Her jump to the realm of purebloods need not be impaired by this minor inconvenience! Draco can still have a holiday mansion in Italy shared with the Zabinis. They can still be best friends even if the Half Blood Prince gave no indication of any form of bond.

**The Problem:** Ron and Hermione. Need I say more?  
**The Solution:** Worry not! Teenage romances never last! (Unless of course they are between Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, in this case they will last for all eternity.) Just devote the first chapter of your story to splitting them up and Draco can leap right in, Ron's attempted homicide can then be passed off as jealousy and Hermione will make sure everything works out alright.

**The Problem:** Hogwarts might be closing.  
**The Solution:** _Might _being the operative word. Despite the fact that the options are limitless without the confines of the school year, for those with limited imagination it was never stated that the school would definitely shut down. It's not too late for Hermione to give up on Harry and go back to school (as Head Girl) in September. (And if all else fails, there is still 'Alternative Universe' to fall back on.)

**The Problem:** Who will chose the Head Boy and Head Girl now that Dumbledore is six-feet under?  
**The Solution:** It is doubtful many people will be deterred from the idea of two enemies sharing a dorm by a minor inconvenience such as the school possibly shutting and Hermione (and most likely Draco) definitely not returning. In answer to the question: I do believe that would be Professor McGonagall.

**The Problem:** Snape can't be used as matchmaker anymore.  
**The Solution:** Says who? J.K.'s gone back on our ideas of Snape more than once, what's to say it won't happen again? (And don't forget: 'Alternative Universe'! (Evaporates all fanfiction peeves in one fell swoop.) (To be revered and feared.))

**The Problem:** The Draco-In-My-Head doesn't cry and would never so much as look at Moaning Myrtle without a sneer, what should I do?  
**The Solution:** Well, the most sensible thing to do in this situation is to change Draco. Torture sessions with Voldemort and lots of brainwashing should do the trick. By the end of August he'll be as emotionless as ever, not a tear in sight.

**The Problem:** Reforming Draco will be really difficult now that he's a Death Eater, what should I do?  
**The Solution:** An anonymous life changing experience should do the trick. He will be too traumatized to tell Hermione what it actually was that led to his change of heart, leaving you with an excuse not to have to think of a reason. (Alternatively, 'Alternative Universe' works just as well.)

_**Thank you for reading and Good Luck with your future Dramione fics. :)**_

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**AN:** Also from the series:  
_- A Beginner's Guide To Dramione Romance_


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